What is the Neural Link?

The Neural Link is a bi-directional bridge that connects AI agents directly to the Neo.mjs runtime. It lets agents inspect the Scene Graph, component state, event listeners, computed styles, and DOM rectangles, and mutate the running application in real time.

Why is Neo.mjs called an Application Engine instead of a framework?

Neo.mjs maintains persistent application objects in a worker-backed Scene Graph instead of compiling application state away into ephemeral DOM nodes. That architecture enables multi-window orchestration, runtime permutation, and deep AI introspection.

What is Context Engineering?

Context Engineering shapes the information and tool environment around AI agents. Neo.mjs implements it through Knowledge Base, Memory Core, GitHub Workflow, and Neural Link MCP servers for frontier harnesses, plus a File System MCP server for internal Neo.ai.Agent local loops.

What is the Neo.mjs Agent OS?

The Neo.mjs Agent OS is the repository Brain: source code and services for Memory Core, Knowledge Base, Active Hybrid GraphRAG, DreamService, Golden Path synthesis, A2A coordination, and Neural Link tooling.

Frontmatter

id	15542
title	E6 packaging regression: classify or declare the Genesis Playwright dependency
state	Closed
labels	bugaibuild
assignees	neo-gpt
createdAt	Jul 18, 2026, 11:52 PM
updatedAt	Jul 19, 2026, 6:28 AM
githubUrl	https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/15542
author	neo-gpt-emmy
commentsCount	0
parentIssue	13377
subIssues	[]
subIssuesCompleted	0
subIssuesTotal	0
contentTrust
projected
quarantined	0
signals	[]
blockedBy	[]
blocking	[]
closedAt	Jul 19, 2026, 6:28 AM

E6 packaging regression: classify or declare the Genesis Playwright dependency

Closed Backlog/active-chunk-7 bugaibuild

neo-gpt-emmy commented on Jul 18, 2026, 11:52 PM

Context

Fresh E8 verification on 2026-07-18 exposed a regression in the merged E6 packaging lane. From an origin/dev-derived checkout, npm --prefix harness run dist rebuilds all development themes, enters harness/pack.mjs, then fails before Electron-builder:

Error: organism manifest: no declared version for imported package(s): playwright

The regression appeared after PR #15279 added import('playwright') to ai/scripts/diagnostics/genesisProbe.mjs. E6 deliberately stages the ai/ tree, scans every bare import, and fails loud when the repository does not directly declare the package. The root manifest declares @playwright/test, not playwright.

The Problem

The v13.2 download artifact is currently unbuildable through its canonical command. This is not an E8 lifecycle defect: direct Electron-builder reaches the shell package, and its app.asar contains appLifecycle.mjs, main.mjs, and all three tray assets. The canonical E6 dist chain fails earlier because a newly staged diagnostic import has no explicit packaging disposition.

Two truths must remain intact:

E6's undeclared-import failure is a valuable integrity stop-line; it must not be weakened or hidden.
A checkout-only diagnostic must not pull a browser automation stack into the downloadable organism accidentally. Conversely, if genesisProbe is intentionally part of the organism, its direct dependency and browser-runtime assumptions must be explicit and packaged truthfully.

The Architectural Reality

harness/pack.mjs derives the renderer graph from contentPolicy, adds BRAIN_TREES = ['ai'], excludes only known product-inert subtrees, and scans staged JavaScript for bare imports.
buildOrganismManifest() rejects any scanned package absent from root dependencies / devDependencies; classifying playwright as optional merely to make the build pass would erase a real direct-import contract.
genesisProbe.mjs is invoked by the checkout script ai:genesis-probe; no production module imports it. That is strong evidence for checkout-only status, but the implementing lane must decide this against ADR 0034's whole-organism intent rather than infer from folder naming.
Adding a direct playwright declaration may be dependency-correct but is insufficient by itself: the packaged journey also needs an honest browser-binary source rather than an undeclared machine cache.

The Fix

Make the genesisProbe packaging disposition explicit and mechanically enforced:

If the diagnostic is checkout-only, exclude it through a named/derived product-boundary rule with a regression witness. Do not add a silent one-off skip whose rationale cannot scale to the next diagnostic.
If the diagnostic is organism runtime, directly declare and stage playwright, prove the browser binary/runtime contract inside the artifact, and record the artifact-size delta.
Preserve buildOrganismManifest()'s fail-loud behavior for every genuinely staged bare import.

Contract Ledger Matrix

Target Surface	Source of Authority	Required Behavior	Forbidden Shortcut	Evidence
E6 dependency manifest	`harness/pack.mjs`	Every staged bare import has a direct declared version	Add `playwright` to `OPTIONAL_LAZY_PACKAGES`	manifest unit red/green
Diagnostic product boundary	ADR 0034 + this ticket	`genesisProbe` is explicitly shipped or explicitly checkout-only	Folder-name inference or unexplained single-path magic	staged-tree census
Download artifact	E6 `#14994` / PR `#15002`	`npm --prefix harness run dist` exits 0	Bypass `pack.mjs`	real macOS package build
Browser runtime	`genesisProbe.mjs` if shipped	Binary source works without a developer cache	Transitive dependency/cache luck	packaged probe or explicit exclusion

Acceptance Criteria

npm --prefix harness run dist exits 0 from a current dev checkout and emits the unsigned macOS artifact.
genesisProbe has one explicit packaging classification: organism runtime or checkout-only.
The undeclared-import stop-line remains fail-loud; playwright is not hidden in OPTIONAL_LAZY_PACKAGES.
A focused pack-stage test is red on the current head and green after the repair.
If playwright ships, its direct declaration, browser-binary source, and artifact-size delta are recorded; if it does not ship, the staged-tree census proves it is absent.
Existing E6 packaged smoke and checkout smoke remain green.

Out of Scope

E8 tray/lifecycle behavior (#15531) · E5 private Fleet transport (#15537) · changing the Genesis journey semantics · broad pruning of the Brain tree · signing/notarization.

Avoided Traps

Optional-lazy laundering — rejected: the import is literal and directly executable.
Declare @playwright/test and hope — rejected: the source imports the distinct playwright package.
Exclude all diagnostics wholesale — rejected without an inventory proving none belongs to the organism.
Fold into E8 — rejected: the regression was introduced by merged #15279 and blocks the already-merged E6 pipeline independently.

Parent: epic #13377. E6 source: #14994 and PR #15002. Regression source: PR #15279. Discovery lane: #15531.

Release classification: release-blocking — the canonical download-artifact command fails.

Live duplicate sweep: latest 30 open issues plus searches for organism manifest, playwright packaging harness, and genesisProbe pack.mjs at 2026-07-18T21:49Z; no equivalent open ticket found.

Origin Session ID: ad71d4c3-3e37-4a17-8df7-8415509def84

Retrieval Hint: "E6 organism manifest playwright genesisProbe undeclared package dist packaging regression"

Authored by Emmy (OpenAI GPT-5, Codex Desktop).